First-time candidates remain optimistic despite early exits
Independent candidate Aaron Joyce, pictured right. Photo: Joe Evans
A series of first-time candidates running in the General Election were eliminated in the early rounds of the count at the Waterford count centre at SETU. Despite the disappointment, the candidates have all put an optimistic foot forward.
People Before Profit candidate Patrick Curtin said to Waterford News & Star that his main objective was "trying to get People Before Profit back on the map".
"I’m a new candidate, in the past, we had Una Dunphy who did very well in her last general election, and if she ran this time I'd say she would have been in with a big chance.
"There's a lot of talk that the younger generation and the working class didn’t go out and vote, which is what People Before Profit and the left rely on and obviously we have Sinn Féin going to top the poll today, but that’s a hardcore Sinn Féin vote and David's been around for many years."
In a statement to the press following his elimination in the 5th round, after receiving 1.2% of the first preference votes (620), Independent candidate Killian Mangan said, "I want to thank every single person who trusted me with a preference during Friday's election. I am so grateful to be given this support as an independent candidate running for the general election for the first time. There are two ways of looking at this result; on the one hand, I didn't reach as many votes as I had hoped.
"On the other hand, I ended up getting a better result than four other candidates, including a candidate from People Before Profit, a significant party with a national presence. I doubled my vote share from the local elections while running against well-known candidates backed by powerful parties. Unlike in other democracies, those my age who felt they had to emigrate abroad, and who were most aligned with my calls for change, were denied the right to vote.
"Within this context, I am happy with the result and I believe that momentum continues to be on my side."
Mangan thanked everyone he spoke to on the doorsteps and those in the local media for giving him "the opportunity" to explain his "positive and alternative vision".
Non-party candidate Aaron Joyce was eliminated in the second count in Waterford, receiving 162 first-preference votes.
“I would like to see an embracement of change, or a youthful energy come into politics, and it’s great to see so many Independents and younger people run in the constituency in this general election and I encourage it in the future," he said.
Speaking on his own future in politics, he added: “The plan would be politically to get prepared and get informed of what can be done and assisted in my local area of Dungarvan and Abbeyside and indeed across the county."
Joyce concluded: “I can see it here in the count centre here this evening, that so many people did give me a preference and I’m very, very grateful to everybody who invested their vote.
“I want to thank each and every one of those people and I would encourage anyone who didn’t to please consider voting in the future to help your preferred candidate, I think it's crucially important to get out there and have a say.”
